Fr. Vivino Matugas Joeven
Fifth Sunday of Lent : John 8:1-11.
This gospel is the dramatic story of an adulteress woman caught in the very act, captured by the scribes and Pharisees and brought to Jesus. According to the Roman law such crime of the woman be meted out with brutal execution – stoning to death.
I remember the story written by Nathanael Hawthorne – an American writer entitled the Scarlet Letter.
It was the story of a Puritan society where a married woman (Hester Prynne) got pregnant to another man (Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale) – who was a Minister of her church.
The woman was disgraced publicly by wearing in her breast a scarlet capital letter “A” for the whole of her life. To mean say that the woman was an Adulterer. On trial Hester Prynne refused to name the man who fathered his child in order to protect Dimmesdale dignity as a pastor. The woman was put inside jail until she gave birth.
Both of these two women, in the Gospel and in the Scarlet Letter whom the society condemned them adulterers suffered shame, fear and humiliation.
Inside the Gospel, Jesus showed deep love and compassion to the sinners. He has not even count the sin of the woman nor confront her of guilt. He asked the woman, “where are they? Has no one condemned you? The woman answered, “No, sir”. Jesus replied, “neither do I condemned you, go and do not sin again”.
At the end of the drama, only Jesus and the woman left the scene. All other characters went away.
We are now approaching nearer to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The church offered us this sacred season for us to reflect the pains and triumph of Jesus.
The sacrament of Repentance and Reconciliation embrace us back into the hands of God. It is a wondrous time and opportunity to see life anew. We are ready to acknowledge our sins and asked God to replace the ill feelings inside our hearts into his own marvelous love.
Fifth Sunday of Lent : John 8:1-11.
This gospel is the dramatic story of an adulteress woman caught in the very act, captured by the scribes and Pharisees and brought to Jesus. According to the Roman law such crime of the woman be meted out with brutal execution – stoning to death.
I remember the story written by Nathanael Hawthorne – an American writer entitled the Scarlet Letter.
It was the story of a Puritan society where a married woman (Hester Prynne) got pregnant to another man (Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale) – who was a Minister of her church.
The woman was disgraced publicly by wearing in her breast a scarlet capital letter “A” for the whole of her life. To mean say that the woman was an Adulterer. On trial Hester Prynne refused to name the man who fathered his child in order to protect Dimmesdale dignity as a pastor. The woman was put inside jail until she gave birth.
Both of these two women, in the Gospel and in the Scarlet Letter whom the society condemned them adulterers suffered shame, fear and humiliation.
Inside the Gospel, Jesus showed deep love and compassion to the sinners. He has not even count the sin of the woman nor confront her of guilt. He asked the woman, “where are they? Has no one condemned you? The woman answered, “No, sir”. Jesus replied, “neither do I condemned you, go and do not sin again”.
At the end of the drama, only Jesus and the woman left the scene. All other characters went away.
We are now approaching nearer to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The church offered us this sacred season for us to reflect the pains and triumph of Jesus.
The sacrament of Repentance and Reconciliation embrace us back into the hands of God. It is a wondrous time and opportunity to see life anew. We are ready to acknowledge our sins and asked God to replace the ill feelings inside our hearts into his own marvelous love.